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Vagus nerve stimulation treatment for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
- Source :
-
Journal of child neurology [J Child Neurol] 2000 Aug; Vol. 15 (8), pp. 509-12. - Publication Year :
- 2000
-
Abstract
- Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a severe age-specific epilepsy syndrome that presents with medication-resistant seizures in childhood. Antiepileptic drugs are the mainstay of treatment. Nonpharmacologic treatments include corpus callosum section and the ketogenic diet. However, no single treatment is safe and effective. We treated 13 patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome between the ages of 4 and 44 years (mean, 16.7 years) with vagus nerve stimulation. During the first 6 months of treatment, vagus nerve stimulation produced a median seizure rate reduction of 52% (range, 0% to 93%; P = .04). At 6 months of follow-up, three patients had a greater than 90% reduction in seizures, two had a greater than 75% reduction, one had a greater than 50% reduction, and six had at least a 25% reduction. One patient did not improve. No patient worsened after initial improvement. Side effects, including hoarseness, coughing, and pain in the throat, were transient and tolerable. No patient discontinued vagus nerve stimulation. Our results suggest that vagus nerve stimulation could be an effective and safe adjunct therapy for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Adult
Child
Child, Preschool
Combined Modality Therapy
Electric Stimulation Therapy adverse effects
Electrodes, Implanted
Female
Humans
Severity of Illness Index
Statistics, Nonparametric
Syndrome
Treatment Outcome
Anticonvulsants therapeutic use
Electric Stimulation Therapy methods
Epilepsy therapy
Vagus Nerve
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0883-0738
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of child neurology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 10961788
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/088307380001500803